From its debut in 1928, it went through a number of permutations over the years, being called at various points in its life,
Modern Mechanics and Inventions,
Modern Mechanix and Inventions,
Modern Mechanix,
Mechanix Illustrated,
Home Mechanix, and, in its final incarnation, ''Today's Homeowner''. Although it featured many how-to articles, the most eagerly awaited and read features were
Tom McCahill's monthly automobile tests which ran from the late 1940s to the early 1970s. McCahill's feisty opinions were delivered in a prose laced with similes that are still quoted today among car enthusiasts: "As anyone brighter than a rusty spike must know..."; flooring the accelerator pedal on a certain car is "...like stepping on a wet sponge"; the clock/tachometer combination on another car is "...about as useful as feathers on a moose." McCahill died in 1974, and three years later CBS bought
Fawcett Publications, the company which published
MI, and continued publishing the magazine, renaming it
Home Mechanix starting in January 1985. In August 1996, it was again renamed as ''Today's Homeowner
, and ceased publication with the March/April 2001 issue, being merged into the sister publication This Old House''. In the 1980s, the magazine featured more and more home repair, remodel and woodworking projects while featuring fewer articles on general technology and automotive projects. A long-running feature of
Mechanix Illustrated was "Mimi," a shapely young woman dressed in skimpy overalls with blue and white vertical stripes; and, in the early sixties, a matching railroad engineer's cap (later discontinued). She was in a picture holding, standing beside, sitting on, lying on or just in the picture with a new product each month. Each "Mimi" held the job for a year. Their names were never given except for the announcement of a new "Mimi" in the January issue. One Mimi did, however, hold the job for a few years in the sixties. An actress from Southern California, she left to live in Hawaii, and a readers' poll was conducted to choose a replacement from a short list. The readers' choice only lasted a short while, and was replaced by one of the runners-up. "Mimi" was discontinued with the change to
Home Mechanix. A long-running cartoon feature,
Roy Doty's "
Wordless Workshop," is currently appearing in "
The Family Handyman" magazine. John August Media, LLC acquired the
Mechanix Illustrated trademark and revived the magazine as part of TechnicaCuriosa.com, along with sister titles Popular Electronics and Popular Astronomy. ==References==